Dairy-Free Parmesan-Style Cheese

Dairy-Free Parmesan-Style Cheese

My Little Blue Heron

If you're not familiar with nutritional yeast, this recipe will change this. Nutritional yeast is a great product for those who don't eat dairy. It tastes great, it's fortified with tons of amino acids, B vitamins and protein, and it has a great many applications in the dairy-free, vegetarian/vegan culinary world. You may think it’s yeast, but it’s deactivated. 

From Wikipedia:

            Nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of cheese,… for example in mashed and fried potatoes, atop of "scrambled" tofu, or as a topping for popcorn.

In Australia, it is sometimes sold as "savoury yeast flakes". In New Zealand, it has long been known as Brufax. In the United States, it is sometimes referred to as "hippie dust", "nooch" or "yeshi", an Ethiopian name meaning "for a thousand".

HIPPIE DUST! 

It is fantastic on popcorn.
Please read labels and buy fortified nutritional yeast. it packs a nutritional punch, supplying B vitamins, amino acids and protein. It’s low in calories, keeps well, is a decent sub for cheesy tasting things (it's what you need to make vegan mac and cheese), and how can you not be the tiniest bit curious about a food called "nooch", "yeshi" and “hippie dust”?

This vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free “Parmesan Cheese" recipe doesn't taste like Parmesan cheese. But everyone who tastes it likes it. Texturally, it’s exactly like grated cheese (that you’d buy already grated.) It's a legitimate replacement. I use it as I would use Parmesan cheese. Its taste is round, nutty, distinctive (and gosh-darned delicious!)

I’ll be sharing a salad dressing that you'd swear is a “mustard/mayonnaise” and is eggless and mustard-free. It has nutritional yeast hippie dust! You'll find it at most markets these days, or in the "alternative" (oy) aisle that has those fake planked wood floors in your mainstream mega supermarket. Bragg (the apple cider vinegar people) makes it. But I prefer to buy KAL brand. KAL is tastier, less expensive and fortifies their product in a much bigger way. Bob's Red Mill is another resource for hippie dust. 

Please check out this link for resources. Vitacost is one of my favorite online vendors in the U.S.

Commercial vegan Parmesan cheese substitutes are vile. Take some time to put this recipe together. It's worth it. 

MLBH Truc: I usually opt to use my Vitamix, but this recipe will be much easier to put together in a conventional food processor.

Today's last tray of Hippie Dust Parm is in the oven now and the house smells divine. 

Kept as “flaked” or grated (actually, pulverized in your power blender or in a food processor), it will keep, sealed air-tight in a glass jar, for a month at room temperature. It'll keep longer in the fridge, and you can freeze it.

Sprinkle this topping on pasta, pizza, veggies, baked potatoes, omelets or on salads.

You’re going to love this condiment!

peace and love from my little blue heron's kitchen to yours,

jane

Dairy-Free Parmesan-Style Cheese

Ingredients:
(partial for first step, which requires waiting time of 6 hours to overnight)

1/2 c. (70 g.) raw sunflower seeds

1/2 c. (60-63 g.) blanched almonds 

SOAK THE TWO ABOVE INGREDIENTS FOR AT LEAST SIX HOURS OR PREFERABLY OVERNIGHT. 

N.B.: If you don't have blanched almonds, after raw almonds with skins have soaked for this long, they'll simply pop out of their skins.

Popping almond from their skins is:
tedious 囗
meditative 囗

Ingredients (continued):
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 Tbsp./15 g. Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp. Soy Sauce/GF Soy Sauce (my choice)/Wheat-Free Tamari Soy Sauce/Coconut Aminos (if you avoid soy, this is a wonderful substitute!)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250º F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (you will remove the parchment from the sheet and then slide it onto the sheet once you've prepared the mixture for baking)

Drain the soaked nuts and seeds well.

Spread them on tea towels or paper towels and pat them, removing as much water as possible (don't make yourself crazy.)

Place soaked nuts/seeds and all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a fairly smooth paste comes together. The texture will be semi-smooth. It doesn't need to be silky. It should have some coarseness to it.

Spread 1/2 of the mixture on one piece of parchment. Place a piece of waxed paper, the size of the sheet pan/parchment over the mixture, and with a rolling pin, roll it as thinly as possible.

Slowly, peel the waxed paper from one end to the other, revealing an exposed sheet of paste atop the parchment. Slide the parchment on the baking sheet and repeat for the second sheet.

Pop them into the oven and bake until the sheets of paste are dried, but not brown. The edges may begin to darken, ever so slightly.


Remove from oven and cool on racks. When slightly warm, free the sheets of 'cheese' from the parchment to cool completely. This will prohibit moisture from collecting. (You don't want this to be bone 'dry', but if this is too wet, it'll be gooey and gummy.)

You can 'flake' the 'cheese' or pulse in the food processor or in your Vitamix/power blender, 'grating' the cheese coarse/medium or fine.

If your flaked 'cheese' becomes soft, you can spread it on a baking sheet and pop it back into a preheated 250º F. oven to crisp it up again.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Men/Women/Transgender/Jewish Star Cookies

Gluten-Free with Vegan Option 
Gingerbread Men/Women/Transgender/

Jewish Stars

Adapted from King Arthur Flour by My Little Blue Heron

Another "if you didn't tell me, I'd never know they were GF" confection from MLBH to you.  These excellent gingerbread cookies arrive just in time for the holidays!

Use any gluten-free flour blend you like. I use this one. Here’s a link to a post (and a recipe for GF chocolate chip cookies!), where you’ll find resources for GF flour blends. If chick pea flour is your jam, use Bob’s Red Mill’s GF flour blend. I'm not a big fan of it, and don't love the aftertaste. Chick pea flour is a high protein flour. If you're blending your own, and chick pea flour is part of the recipe, choose another high protein flour in its place, like Teff flour. 

This is important: If your blend has Xanthan gum in it, don’t add more.

These are great undressed, or you can decorate them with royal icing (recipe below*) or candied fruit. (Have the kids or grandchildren join in the fun!)

Pour yourself a cup of tea, some egg nog, a glass of wine, champagne, gin, whisky or a tall glass of clean and delicious water. We're all playing in the same band, walking together. 

May you live in peace, with love, in good health be well accomplished in all you do and live with ease, in and out of the kitchen.

xojane

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

347 g. (2 ¼ c.) gluten-free multi-purpose flour blend.

96 g. (1 c.) almond flour (finely ground, blanched is recommended)

½ tsp. xanthan gum (omit if included in your GF flour blend)

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Kosher salt

1 ½ tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cloves (freshly ground rock!)

85 g. (6 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature (butter replacement for vegan)

106 g. (1/2 c., packed tightly) dark brown sugar (moist and fresh)

1 egg, size large, at room temperature (or egg substitute for vegan)

170 g. (1/2 c.) molasses (preferably organic)

¼ heaping tsp. powdered vanilla (Authentic Foods) or 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

            (Powdered vanilla is gluten free, and I prefer to use it in GF baking. No alcohol

             seems to keep the GF gods happy.)

Procedure:

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together, until light and fluffy, the butter and brown sugar.

Add the molasses, egg and vanilla, and mix until the wet ingredients come together. (At first, they’ll look separated.)

Add the dry to the wet ingredients, and blend until incorporated.

Wrap in two to three portions, flattened into disks, in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for several hours, or best, overnight.

The bake:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Racks in oven should be in upper and lower third.

Roll dough (you may need a little flour at first for easy rolling) to about ¼” thick and cut out to desired shapes. You can use a cookie cutter, or cut them free-form.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and return to the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up the dough.

Bake for about 12-17 minutes, depending on how thick you’ve rolled, how hot your oven is, and where your shelves are in the oven. Rotate baking sheets front to back, top to bottom racks, mid-bake.

Remove from oven and cool on racks. (Cool before decorating.)

Yield: will vary, depending on your cutters, but figure a couple of dozen “person” cookies and double or more smaller stars.

 _________________________________________
"Simple Cookie Glaze"

*Here’s King Arthur Flour’s recipe for “simple cookie glaze”. It calls for milk. If you’re dairy-free, substitute with almond milk, rice milk or cashew milk or coconut milk. Make sure it has fat in it. This will help keep the glaze together.

This glaze dries hard and shiny, and is perfect for coating the top of your cookies in preparation for decorating with food-safe pens or makers. This glaze is a little on the thick side, and it isn't perfectly smooth when you apply it, but should settle into a smooth surface within half a minute or so. Glaze one cookie and set it aside for a minute. Has the glaze settled into a smooth surface? If so, it's the right consistency. Remember, it's easier to add more liquid than to stir in more sugar, so start with a glaze that's thicker than you think it should be, then add milk little by little to adjust the consistency.

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 to 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk

Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Stir until smooth; a fork works fine.

The glaze should be thick, but soft enough to "settle" when you spread it. If the glaze is too thick, dribble in another teaspoon of milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Add food color, if you like; gel paste food colors are preferable, as they yield vibrant color, and don't alter the liquid/sugar ratio as regular food colors might.

Tips from our bakers:

Be sure you measure accurately here. Too little milk, and the glaze won't spread nicely. Too much milk, and it will be thin, spotty and develop splotches overnight.

Once the glaze has hardened, you can color on it with foodsafe markers, or you can pipe another color over the top with Royal Icing. You can sprinkle sugar on top of the wet royal icing for a sparkly effect. 

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